


The Sound of Two Voices

by MeredithBrody



Series: The Sound of Two Voices [1]
Category: Designated Survivor (TV)
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Mental Coercion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-11 04:57:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12927945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeredithBrody/pseuds/MeredithBrody
Summary: Emily continues emotionally and mentally manipulating Seth, but neither Kendra nor Lyor can stand seeing their friend being mistreated.(This is now a series, not a chapter fic)





	The Sound of Two Voices

**Author's Note:**

> If you really like Emily.... give this series a skip. There will be suggestions of Seth/Kendra, Seth/Lyor, Kendra/Lyor and the three of them together too through the series

Kendra didn't like eavesdropping, it could be helpful, but she didn't really like doing it. Still, she had learnt quickly in this building that overhearing when you were all senior staff was far too easy to do. Today though, for the first time ever, she was happy she heard it. "It was your fault, Seth. You should have been more careful." Was that Emily? Was that really her friend? Sounding so harsh, so angry. Especially given that Kendra knew that the only thing she could be referencing was his court case. "What if I have to tell the president?" Whoa, wait. What? Kendra knew that that wasn't fair. They couldn't know she was listening, but she didn't care, she wasn't letting anyone manipulate someone like that.

"Hey, hey. Hang on." Kendra pushed the door open and stepped through it, getting between where Emily and Seth were stood. "If this is still about what I think it is… It's over, it's done. I told the President about it last week and he understood the whole thing." That wasn't a lie either, it had come up in a conversation, and she'd explained it all. As she'd expected, the President had understood it entirely.

"You did what?" Seth yelped, clearly absolutely terrified. Kendra was at least going to be able to reassure him that this wasn't going to matter at all. She really wanted to make sure that Seth was aware that nothing had changed the President's opinion of him. Especially not when Seth had been trying to help his family, something that the President had been doing himself ever since she'd joined the White House.

"It's all fine, Seth. He understood entirely and neither he nor I ever planned on telling you that he knew." She reassured him, patting his arm softly. She'd always been very tactile, and she knew Seth was too. It was how she could show him that she believed in him and it was the truth.

"Why?!" Emily actually looked more horrified than Seth did, and that confused Kendra even more about all of this. Why was Emily was having so much trouble with all of this. "Why did you tell him?" Kendra, at least, wasn't going to pretend it was something nefarious, it had been an honest conversation. Clearly it was making Emily uncomfortable, though.

"Because he asked me why I had extra hours blocked out in my diary for billing." It wasn't an uncommon question, and technically Kendra didn't answer to Emily, she answered directly to the President. She would defer, but if she didn't want to she didn't have to. "Why are you holding it over Seth anyway?"

"I'm not!" Emily's voice was an octave higher than maybe it should have been, Kendra remembered law school, she remembered hearing about how defensive people could get. Trying to argue that with a lawyer was never going to get anyone a win. It just gave her something to use to keep an eye on her.

"I heard you, Emily. I heard what was said, and I know what it sounds like." Kendra was not going to be explaining that unless she absolutely had to, she wasn't going to let Seth have to go through that kind of thing. "Be careful who you try to manipulate." it was a warning, and she turned around and spoke to Seth instead. "Seth, I need to talk to you about the McCloskey subpoena." She then went straight out the door, and was glad that he just followed. "Seth… you don't need to be spoken to like that."

"She's just… holding me accountable, Ken." Seth tried to defend what was said, and Kendra remembered what that part was like too. It wasn't about her right now though, she was just going to focus on her friend and try to reassure him that not only was everything okay, but that she would be by his side through everything.

"She was dangling your job over you and trying to manipulate you. That's not normal." That was the one thing that she wanted to try and get to the bottom of. "Has she done this before?" It was a simple question, but it was something that she really needed to try and convince Seth that this was all fine.

Seth though, he seemed to be far more concerned with what he may have done to make Emily treat him that way, and more than that, seemed to think that there were things he could do that should result in that treatment. "Only when I've deserved it." His voice got a little stronger the further from Emily's office they were, but Kendra knew that that just meant he was more comfortable, and she doubted he even noticed.

"You never deserve it, Seth. Never!" She may have said that a little louder than she intended, so she pulled him into her office and tried not to seem like she was losing her temper. She maybe was, a little, but she couldn't let that show. "It doesn't matter what happens, manipulation is not an appropriate thing to do to someone."

"I'm the one who did something wrong. That's on me." It was clear that nothing she said, right now, was going to change his mind. That saddened her, because she didn't really want to have one of her friends spending all the time thinking that everything they did was wrong, or to be walking on eggshells the way she once had been.

"That doesn't mean it's alright for her to hold it over you, especially not for two weeks." Kendra had suddenly just seen her friend in a new light, actually two of them, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. She was angry at Emily, and she just felt sorry for Seth. "It doesn't mean she's right either."

Seth looked for a moment like he was taking all of that in, and that it was something that he would take on board, but Kendra doubted he would do that after just this one conversation. "Didn't you want to talk to me about the McCloskey thing?"

"Yes, I did." She knew a shut-down when she saw one, and so she decided to just let it go and she wrapped her arms around herself. She was going to make a mental note to have the world's hottest shower when she got home. That didn't mean she was going to leave Seth without knowing. "You know where I am if you need to talk, Seth."

* * *

Seth wasn't sure what it was that Kendra had said that had gotten into his head, but something was making him just think things over and over and over. He didn't actually know if he could stop. It had been an entire twenty-four hours and her words were still repeating in his head, even more than Emily's were. He needed to talk to someone about it, but the only person in the office was Lyor. "Hey, Lyor. I want your opinion on something."

"What?" The other man had barely actually looked up, and Seth wasn't really very sure about asking this after all. How did he actually explain why he was asking and what he was asking. It wasn't going to make very much sense at all to anyone that wasn't him, or Kendra. If she overheard it.

"It was a debate Kendra and I had earlier, I just want to know if she's right or if she's being oversensitive about it." Kendra thought that he was being mistreated and he was having to double check, wasn't it happening to him? Shouldn't he know? But he didn't and Kendra's words weren't stopping, because secretly he thought that she was right.

"I've never known Kendra to be oversensitive about anything but I've only known her a few months so…"

"We both watch this… show. In it this guy's girlfriend is his boss." Lyor didn't know about him and Emily, so he couldn't be suspicious about it, right? He was taking a chance with this but he needs to know. "And after he messed something up, the girlfriend kept reminding him of it, and how she really should have taken action against him and how she was the reason he was still in his job." Alright… Now he'd said it out loud that sounded horrific, and Kendra was right. "OK, when I say it out loud I realise Kendra is probably right."

"Oh she's definitely right. That guy needs a new girlfriend, or no girlfriend at all." If Lyor was the one saying that then Kendra had been right all along. "But given it's TV it'll never be addressed again and they'll probably get married." That was even more distressing to Seth, he didn't want to think about that possibility, TV or not.

"Yeah, probably." He replied noncommittally, hoping that that would end the questions. It was only then that Seth realised he hadn't seen Kendra that morning, so Lyor may not know what they'd be dealing with. "Thanks. Oh, and McCloskey's going ahead, Kendra couldn't get it kicked. I have a press strategy set up with her but you should talk to her too."

"Thanks." Lyor nodded then stood up and headed out. Seth just watched and was not really very sure what else was going to be going on, and Kendra really didn't know what to think about everything, though Lyor clearly saw that it was wrong, so right now he had to think that maybe his friends were right. All of this was going to be a problem. They had so much work to do.

Seth managed to make it through the day, or so he thought, then Emily pushed through the door of his office and Seth wasn't entirely sure all about what was going on. "Why did you say that, it could get us all in a lot of trouble." At this point Seth wasn't even sure what she was yelling about. "If anyone finds out about it..."

"Sorry, I'll fix it in the briefing. My fault I should have spoke more carefully." He probably was, he hadn't been planning any of it but he just wanted to get it all over with so that Emily would just go off and leave her alone.

"Hey, Emily, leave him alone. He did what any of us would have done and he protected the President." Kendra obviously had some idea, though Seth still didn't know what. She looked to him and Seth was so confused about everything right now. "Seth you did nothing wrong and nobody is in legal trouble, ignore her."

"What are you even doing here?" Emily sounded angry, and maybe that was because Kendra seemed to be everywhere right now. Seth wasn't sure how she did it either, and something that she was going through had clearly affected her deeply. All that Seth wanted was for them both to let him be, though at least Kendra did leave him alone most of the time.

"Trying to stop you from doing this but apparently I'm too late." Kendra shot back at Emily, and Seth was just stood there. Both their voices were just there, and he knew that there was something about what was going on. Kendra just wanted for the best for him, he knew that. "Seth, it's not your fault."

"It is, I could have been more careful with my wording." He'd work it out, one way or the other. He didn't want Kendra to keep putting herself on the line for him. No matter what he was doing, no matter what Emily did, it wasn't worth Kendra's job too. Especially when it was probably his fault anyway. "It's okay, Ken. Really."

"Alright, fine. I'll go back to work." Kendra held her hands up, but it didn't take a body language expert to see that she was extremely angry. "Come talk to me later." He liked that she cared that much.

"I will." He nodded, because he was sure that he'd need to before long. That was what was what he wanted anyway, because Kendra seemed to actually understand exactly how he was currently feeling.


End file.
